


Take That, Howard!

by Purple_ducky00



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: BAMF James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, M/M, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:40:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27275077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purple_ducky00/pseuds/Purple_ducky00
Summary: When Howard and Maria accidentally time travel to the present, Rhodey wastes no time letting the elder Stark know what he thinks of him.
Relationships: Harley Keener/Peter Parker, James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson, James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 247
Collections: Ironhusbands Bingo 2020, Tony Stark Bingo Mark IV, you can tell everybody this is your song





	Take That, Howard!

**Author's Note:**

> [Based on this Tumblr post](https://give-me-back-my-rhodey.tumblr.com/post/633151240711323648/theres-tons-of-fics-w-howard-appearing-in-the)
> 
> Title: Take That, Howard!  
> Creator: Purple_ducky00  
> Rating: Gen  
> Warnings: N/A  
> Pair: Rhodey/Tony  
> Major Tags: Howard Stark’s A+ Parenting, Rhodey punches well  
> Bingo Squares: B1 - Maria Stark of the ironhusbandsbingo  
> A3 - Found Family for the tonystarkbingo  
> TSB Card Number: 4013  
> Summary: When Howard and Maria accidentally time travel to the present, Rhodey wastes no time letting the elder Stark know what he thinks of him.  
> Word Count: 1322 words  
> Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27275077  
> 

The Avengers are sitting in the dining room, eating breakfast when a bright blue light shines in the corner. Shadows appear behind it. As the light fades, they see that there are two people standing in the corner. Tony’s chest clenches when he sees who they are – Howard and Maria Stark. From the corner of his eye, he can see Bucky pale.

Howard and Maria look the same as they did that fateful night of December 16th, 1991. The Avengers watch as Howard looks around the room. “Where the hell _-oomph!_ ” His sentence gets cut off as Rhodey punches him across the face, laying him out. Maria screams and Steve jumps up, pulling Rhodey back to the table. Tony can't help but snicker. He loves his Platypus.

“What the hell are you doing, Rhodes?” Steve growls.

Rhodey calmly pulls Steve’s hand off his arm and says, “He knows what that’s for. And if he doesn’t, then fuck him.”

“Who the hell are you?” Howard demands. “Where am I?” He turns to Steve. “Are you Steve Rogers or a fake?”

Nobody sees Tony or Bucky leave the room except for Rhodey. He knows where they both will be. “Steve, take care of this asshole. I’m going to find my boyfriend and your best friend.” Rhodey throws Howard the bird and stalks out. Maria Stark gasps again and then collapses. Wanda jumps up to give her a seat. No one else is sure of what to do.

“Howard, I am the actual Steve Rogers.” Steve nods. “You’re in the year 2019, and this is the Avengers Tower. This is Natasha, Pietro, Bruce, Clint, and that’s Wanda. Bucky and Tony are here somewhere, and the one who just left is Jim Rhodes.” Maria perks up, hearing Tony’s name.

“ _Tony’s_ here?” Howard laughs. “I thought he’d be dead before he reached thirty. Where is he?” He rubs his jaw where Rhodes hit him. “Fuck, that hurts.”

Steve rubs the back of his head. “I’m not sure. I think Rhodes went to get him. Are you hungry? We’ve got extra.” He gestures to the food on the table.

~~

“Tony, let me in.” Rhodey knocks on the closet door. “I know you and Bucky are in there.”

The door opens, and Rhodey finds the two men sitting on the floor, taking deep breaths. Taking a seat beside Tony, he pulls Tony into his arms.

“Fuck, Rhodey, what am I going to do?” Tony gasps. “I know I’m supposed to be happy I have them back, but I’m really not.”

“Hey baby, I know. You’re not a bad person because of this,” Rhodey soothes. “You lived a shitty life with them. There's no guilt in wanting to be free of them.”

Tony sniffles into Rhodey’s collar, then wipes away his tears. “Thank you Honeybear.” He smiles softly, then focuses his attention on Bucky. “Hey Bucky. Listen, Howard will not touch a hair on your body. Rhodey will sock him again before he gets the chance. That being said, if you want to get away from here for a while, I don’t blame you. I can fly you to my Malibu house or the apartment I have in Harlem. Or anywhere else in the world. Up to you.”

Miserable, Bucky opens his mouth and tries to speak but no words are coming out. “Hey, hey, it’s ok,” Rhodey says calmly. “Why don’t we sit here for a little while, then we can go to your room?” Bucky nods. The three of them sit in the closet for another ten minutes, then Bucky stands up. Nodding at both of them, he heads for his room. Rhodey rubs Tony’s shoulders. “Come on, honey, let’s get you some water.”

“Water sucks.” Tony wrinkles his nose like he always does, but he follows Rhodey to the lab.

~~

Maria finds Tony the next morning, sitting on the balcony just outside the living room on the main floor. “Tony?” She asks quietly.

“Hey Mom.” Tony acknowledges her presence with a smile.

She wraps her blanket around her shoulders and takes the seat next to him. “It’s a little chilly out here, wouldn’t you say?” Tony hums noncommittally. Not that he doesn’t want to talk to his mother, he just doesn’t know what to say. “So, they-they told me Howard and I would have died tonight?”

“Yea.” _Wow. At least that sounded sad. Not that I’m not sad, but…_

“Tell me dear, do you miss us? It looks like you’ve made out quite well for yourself here.” She rests her hand on his knee. “You have the family you’ve always wanted.”

Tony tears up. “I’ve missed you, Mother. I missed you so much the first few years after you passed, and I still miss you, but Rhodey and the others? They gave me something I have never felt before.”

“I know, sweetheart. And the thing I regret most about my life is that I didn’t give it to you. I am truly sorry for that.”

“Living with Howard was tough.” Tony wraps his arm around her shoulders. “I’m sure you did the best you could.”

“I didn’t really.” Maria sniffs.

They hold each other until the others wake up.

~~

Howard and Maria stay at the Tower for a week until Dr. Strange is back from his sabbatical. Maria does her best to keep herself out of the picture, but Howard gets on everyone’s last nerve. He drinks a lot, which doesn’t help Tony, who is recovering from his alcoholism, out at all. There are still many times he wants to fall back into the bottle. Especially times like these.

Sam gets home from a mission on the second day. Rhodey pulls him aside and explains everything. Eyes wide, Sam wastes no time in comforting his boyfriend. In the end, they take a vacation to the Malibu house. Bucky’s guilt is hurting him too much to stay at the Tower.

Peter and Harley are sitting in the living room watching Schitt’s Creek. “Who are the children?” Howard asks.

“This is Peter and that’s Harley, both kids I’ve helped out.” Tony introduces them.

“Peter?” Howard scoffs, then mumbles. “Not Patricia?” He says it so quietly that only Tony picks it up. He can tell Peter heard it as well because the boy stiffens minutely.

Tony shoots Howard a glare. His father chooses to ignore it. Instead, he starts to demand why Tony gave up weapons manufacturing. “We were the ones keeping the country safe!” He yells. “If you weren’t a worthless, drunk, fuck-up, you’d have seen that Stane was double-dealing. You could’ve stopped it immedia…” His rant is cut off as Rhodey punches him square in the nose.

“Excuse you. We are housing you. So, keep your damn opinions to your damn self.” Rhodey glares down at Howard. “I will not hesitate to hit you again. Apologize. Now.”

Instead of apologizing like he was told, Howard spits blood from his mouth at Tony. “You’re a bitch, then. You’re going to let Rhodes fight all your fights for you?”

“Only the ones that aren’t worth my time of day.” Tony smiles sweetly at him. “And you, Howard, are not worth my time ever. You were a horrible man, a shitty husband, and an even shittier father. I’m actually glad that you were killed that night. I just wish Mother didn’t have to be a casualty.”

“Unfortunately, she must be.” Stephen Strange’s dry voice actually sounds sad. “It is time for them to return to their timeline.”

Maria is called from her room. She and Tony share a long hug goodbye. Then Strange sends them back to their timeline – in the car just before the Winter Soldier causes the car to spin out.

“Thank you.” Tony kisses Rhodey’s cheek. “It was closure enough just to see you fucking deck Howard. Catching up with Mother was good, too.”

“I’ve wanted to do that a long time.” Rhodey nods grimly.


End file.
